Divided by flames
by Dontgettoofriendly
Summary: 6 years ago John lost his little sister in a fire and it destroyed him. But what will happen when he finds out that there is a chance she survived. Will he be able to find her in time? Or will he lose her all over again? eventually Clary/Jace
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The fire was hot against my skin. The smell of burned flesh was ever present. My legs started hurting from all the running, but I knew I couldn't stop. Behind me Jace started swearing. My first reaction was scolding him for his bad behavior, father would not be pleased with his language. But that did not matter in this moment, nothing except Clary did. Finally, only one corridor left and I would see my sisters room and I would save her from this hellfire. We turned the corner so fast, we almost fell. I saw her room, right before me, only a few more steps. But then the heavens fell down. Not literally, I meant that the ceiling in all its flaming glory fell between my sister and us. I tried to jump over it, but Jace stopped me.

'No! you can't get over it! We have to go back, or we won't survive.'

I turn to him and scream back: 'I can't leave her! She is my little sister, I have to protect her. I just can't leave her.' My voice cracks at the end.

Jace looks me in the eye, his gaze hopeless and sad: 'I know, I'm sorry, maybe she's already outside.'

I turn around and look at my sisters room and make the discussion that would haunt me for years to come. 'Okay Jace, let's go, before the whole building comes down.' We run till the air leaves our longs, till everything turns black.

With a jolt I wake up and scramble for my witchlight. In my fight with my blankets I pushed it of my nightstand. I pick it up and watch the light illuminate the room and imagine it's fighting the nightmares away. Not that it would be very effective, since they are not really nightmares, but memories. A specific memory of the worst night of my life.

In the end we had to jump through a window to make it out alive. Three hours later we woke up in a hospital and learned that only 4 children made it out. Me, Jace, Sebastian and Aline. Clary didn't survive. Witch meant neither did I, because on that day, the 17th of march, my sister died and I died with her.

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okay sooo this is my first fic and I am really excited!

please review, maybe you noticed English is not my first language and it would help a ton if you could kindly point out my mistakes.

also feel free to give me some feedback so I can make this even better

I will update as soon as possible

love Sara


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

 **6 years later**

JOHN

My alarm started blearing loudly, waking me up and probably half of the New York institute. Groaning I pushed the off button and literally rolled out of bed. Dressing up for my morning workout and simultaneously checking my phone, I slowly became more awake. At precise 5.30 I walked in the training room, finding it empty. The giant hall seemed to come alive with one flick of my stele, the lights flickered on and controlboard started humming. On the board I selected my favorite warm up and immediately the right targets appeared and a sword presented itself. The routine softened my muscles, still sore from last night's hunt. Only 10 minutes in, the door opened again and Jace stepped in the room.

'Moring, couldn't wait for me I see' he said while passing me to get to the dueling mats.

'If I had to wait for you, old lady, I would have died of boredom' I retorted.

Two minutes later my program ended and I joined Jace on the mats. Without further speaking a word we started our duel. It's what I always liked about Jace. He talked too much for his own good and his cockiness always brought him into trouble, but if I needed silence he would give me that. He knew today was such a day for silence. 16 years ago, on this day, I got the greatest gift in the world, a baby sister, 10 years and a couple of months later she would be taken away, consumed by the flames my father started. So long ago but still so painful. When she was born I promised that little girl with the few red hairs that I would protect her against all evil in the world. But in the end I could not protect her from her own father. Our father. Not that I see him as my father anymore. Not that I see him anyway, he disappeared that night, never to be seen again.

My aggression towards my father fueled my power and after a few minutes I got Jace on his back. Breathing heavy and with satisfied smiles on our faces I help him up.

'Good one, new move?' asked Jace

I shrugged 'came kind of in the moment. Again?'

Jace smiled and I made myself ready for round two. Several duels later the controlboard announced that it was 6.30 and we stopped our competition. Going our own ways, I went to my bathroom to take a quick shower. The hot water felt like a massage and I felt compelled to stay a little bit longer. After a while I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Looking into the mirror I saw the familiar sight of a boy with white hair and forest green eyes. The perfect blend of my mother and father they used to say. The black patterns of the runes were in dark contrast with my pale skin. Some people called me 'ghostlike', I just called it the curse of the Morgensterns. The only thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the red marring on my shoulder, right above my _parabatai_ rune. A reminder of that night, a reminder of the fire. Like I needed a reminder. It's not like I could ever forget what happened, my nightmares would not let me.

Quickly I dressed myself in my usual attire, a dark jeans, black T-shirt and a black motorcycle vest. My black boots with silver tips and my belt with sword and knife holders. After checking if I at least looked presentable, I went downstairs to get my breakfast.

Upon entering the kitchen I immediately noticed a tension in the air. Looking around I quickly found the source of said tension, my mother.

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Okay wow, I felt so inspired by all your reviews, follows and favorites that I already wrote the first chapter and I am working on the second  
I will probalby not update as fast in the future but I will try to update every few days  
thank you all and here are some little facts about me

My first language is Dutch  
as I'm Belgian  
My favorite day in the week is Sunday  
I have two jonger brothers

If you want to know anything ask away and reviews are Always welcome

lots of love Sara


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

JACE

When I walked in the kitchen and saw Jocelyn sitting at that kitchen table, I already knew this day would suck even more than usual. Without saying a word I grabbed a plate and loaded some bacon and eggs on it. Thanking Maryse I set myself as far as possible from Jocelyn and started eating my breakfast in silence. Soon I was joined by Alec and he too ignored the silent women in the corner of the room. When John entered I prepared myself for the fight and he did not disappoint me.

'What are you doing here?' he asked his mother, voice hard and unforgiving.

Jocelyn looked hurt and nearly started crying there and then. 'I wanted to see you, I miss you and today is so hard on me. I just..'

I knew she would go on and on but John stopped her with one hand. I saw the pain and anger in his eyes. He quickly glanced my way and I gave him a minuscule nod, one only he would see.

'You have it hard? You are the reason this day is hard! You are the reason she died, because you did not want to deal with a child as gifted as she was. You sent her to that house instead of keeping her at home for one more year. So you do not get to say it is hard on you.'

John was furious, I could tell. His voice was firm and cold, he didn't yell but it felt like his words were blasted through a megaphone and looking at Jocelyn she felt the resonate through her bones. I knew it was time to diffuse the situation and get John out of here.

'You know you are not welcome here Jocelyn. We will ask you once to immediately leave this institute and return to the hellhole you crawled out of.' I said as I took John by the arm and pulled him in the hallway.

His eyes stood wild and he was flexing his fingers, a nervous tick he picked up when he was little. Alec joined us and in complete silence we made our way to the roof, where we could let our anger go without consequences.

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JACOB

I never saw them coming, at least 12 demons against only 2 shadowhunters was not exactly a fair deal. Why he didn't kill me I will probably never know, but my _parabatai_ Megan was not as lucky as me. And so were a half a dozen others. The wood was still smoking, my brother and I were standing outside, looking at the Californian Institute, or what was left of it anyway. In the background we heard the head of the institute yelling orders. Five of us left and no idea what actually happend.

'Do you know what we should do next?' Alistair asked me, a dead look in his eyes.

'We will have to rebuild, but first bury them. I don't know what else we can do.' I answered 'The clave will send help.'

I turned my back on the sad pile of rubbish and made my way down the street. the safe house was only a few blocks away and the evening walk could help clear my head.

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AT THE SECRET CLAVE MEETING

'What if it is nothing, just a coincidence?' the bald man yelled.

Imogen looked annoyed. 'We all know that this attack is not a coincidence. No one just dares to say his name, but we all know who is behind this.'

'If we assume he didn't die at the Uprising, if he managed to escape, why would he resurface after 6 years? Why give away his element of surprise?' Alicia, the youngest of the group asked. A good question, with no answers.

'I can't answer that, but my guess is that he needs something, desperately and it is in California.' Imogen sighted and put her stele down 'This meeting is over, we will send some of our best to investigate and help rebuild the institute.'

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And that is it for the second chapter  
up until now, I have been building up the story and in the next chapter the gang will go to LA and that's where the real story will start  
I broke my finger yesterday, so I won't be updating every day cause it takes longer to type it out, hope you guys understand

peace out Sara


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